Since commercial drone LIDAR burst onto the scene, there’s been a place for different levels of performance. Some LIDAR projects will always require the most advanced sensors, while entry-level drone LIDAR is good enough for greenfields and moderate canopy. However this “good enough” gap left room for improvement that Wingtra quietly observed. The result? They’ve now engineered a sensor so customers can get better quality and efficiency out of drone LIDAR.
As Wingtra LIDAR edged closer to market, the company called on a happy customer with decades of LIDAR wisdom built up to test, verify and share his experiences. That customer is Carlos Femmer, Director of Data Acquisition at HDR:
“I have been in the field of LIDAR technology for 25 years. At a previous survey company, I oversaw both our airborne lidar and conventional survey divisions as COO and president. We used a system called FLI-MAP. So I have a good idea of what it takes for a company to take the initiative to design and operate a LIDAR payload.
At HDR, Femmer and his team relies on one of the best systems on the market—the Riegl Vux 120. They also have experience with lower-end drone LIDAR payloads, yet they felt there was a missing level of reliable quality in a mid-range system.
We’re excited about Wingtra bringing in this particular LIDAR system to the market, especially since we were aware of the paramount importance and expectation Wingtra placed on precision in its development. So far, our experience with it has been very positive and promising!
Carlos Femmer
Director of Data Acquisition at HDR
When less is so much more
When it comes to evaluating the quality of aerial LIDAR data, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) developed LIDAR base specifications as part of the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP). Aerial LIDAR data captured over any kind of terrain can be measured according to these. In this world of USGS ratings, a zero level is a good thing.
“We are testing the Wingtra LIDAR payload in our geomatics lab in Lafayette, Louisiana,” Femmer said. “We’re seeing initial results that are in line with quality level zero for accuracy and point density, which is the highest quality level in the USGS 3DEP Base Specification. That’s a vertical accuracy of five centimeters RMSEz, which I think speaks volumes about performance. We are also seeing quality level one on smooth surfaces for repeatability.
“While testing the Wingtra LIDAR payload, we said for every horizontal line we’re going to do a perpendicular line. This way, we were able to test the swath overlap quality—horizontal quality, the vertical quality—in vegetated and non-vegetated areas and to look for artifacts and inconsistencies in the LIDAR dataset. It’s very clean, it aligns well, there’s minimal noise and artifacts in the dataset, and we see exceptional overall precision compared to other lidar systems in this price range.”
While Femmer was clear that Wingtra LIDAR payload will not match the performance of a six-figure heavier Riegl Vux sensor for all projects and applications, their research demonstrates the Wingtra LiDAR payload as top of its class. And this class presents some advantages that Riegl does not, specifically when it comes to weight and transport.
So even comparing Wingtra against our high-end system, if there’s a project that’s appropriate, being able to take the drone and payloads on the plane with you, fly to the site, and then produce the project is really helpful. It’s a perfect product suited for those mid-range, lighter projects. We already anticipate deploying it on various commercial projects around the US.
Carlos Femmer
Director of Data Acquisition at HDR
Saving time on setup and strip alignment
Entry-level LIDAR sensors on the market today capture data that is useful, but requires adjustments in the post process due to misalignment. This is directly due to the engineering and components in the payload. These payloads also require calibration, and the flight time for this consumes power that would otherwise be used to extend the time of data capture per flight.
Combining a Hesai laser, high-precision NovAtel GNSS unit and Inertial Labs IMU, Wingtra LIDAR is engineered to capture data that is strip aligned upon landing. This, combined with its one-minute initialization and automated calibration already cut field time and processing time. Add that to the efficient mapping drone on the market, and even more LIDAR survey time is cut.
“With most other systems, you need to initialize it, for some projects, to calibrate.* You do a figure eight before and after each flight, and then you conduct the LIDAR mission. On the lower-end units, there is much more manual post-processing—with these systems, users must isolate each flight line and process them individually. Then the flight lines must be further processed to align subsequent lines. Once compiled, the full dataset is then adjusted and cleaned. So from a timing and ease-of-use perspective, with better results, it takes less time on all occasions with the Wingtra.”
Wingtra, has always focused on precision. We see the value of that, and the way it’s been incorporated into the LIDAR payload has been great. Strip alignments are aligning tighter. The speed of capture—the automated capture—is in my opinion better than other systems, even with good pilots. Just the consistency that we’re getting, and then being able to now process it out with this quality … is is very impressive.
Carlos Femmer
Director of Data Acquisition at HDR
Support you can count on
Femmer and his team at HDR have been permitted to use the WingtraOne and its successor the GEN II on high-level and sensitive projects around the US, including Vandenberg Space Force Base, Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station—both run by the Department of Defense—and even the Grand Canyon. They’ve tested payloads for a while and have the inside perspective on how much goes into the quality of the final product when it hits the market.
“We’ve been flying the Wingtra drone since its introduction to the US market a few years ago. And over time, we’ve developed and tested different payloads like the RX1R II 42 megapixel, the oblique payload, the multispectral RedEdge-P and the 61 megapixel RGB61. And now we’ve tested the LIDAR payload.”
You know, just talking about our experience, a significant advantage of working with Wingtra Is your access to a support team. We also have a great relationship with SITECH South, or we could call Wingtra directly. So I think those two levels of support offer some amazing benefits that we take advantage of.
It’s reassuring that unexpected obstacles can be swiftly addressed. And we’ve had a number of them over the past couple of years, like high wind speeds and questions that we needed to ask that we were not sure about. We know we can pick up the phone and call and we’ll get a quick response. And then as far as performance, results have consistently exceeded our expectations.
Carlos Femmer
Director of Data Acquisition at HDR
When consistency makes all the difference
Wingtra engineers aim not only for quality but for ease of use of the drone and all of its payloads. This ease-of-use not only brings peace of mind to surveyors of various experience levels, but it also contributes to the consistency of the data. In the case of LIDAR, this becomes more obvious, since exactly how a mission is flown impacts what you get more than in the case of photogrammetry. The drive toward automation at Wingtra, therefore, is paying off big time now as the entire workflow comes together as a dependable package.
“When flying with a quadcopter, there are limitations for aerial LIDAR data collection related to flight planning and flight characteristics of the drone that causes unintended consequences in post-processing. The Wingtra platform avoids many of these limitations and is more consistent from pilot to pilot. Whereas with other drones, you might send three pilots to the same location and might have three different post-processing results based on how they might have flown it.
In the case of Wingtra, where you don’t need to calibrate it, it vertically takes off and runs the flights and comes back down autonomously. I can send three different pilots to that same location and get the same quality result processing on the back end. That speaks to the consistency and quality of the data that’s going to be captured.
Carlos Femmer
Director of Data Acquisition at HDR
